Policy lines and relevant programmes and projects

The Programme of the second Cabinet of Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen was published on 19 April 2007. According to the Programme, creativity, competence and a high standard of education are necessary prerequisites for the success of Finland and the Finnish people. The school system must reinforce everyone’s capacity for learning.

The aims listed in the Government Programme are given more concrete content in a strategy document and in policy programmes, which are co-financed by the Ministry of Education as regards education and research.

Education and Research 2003 -2008. Development plan

The Government has adopted a development plan called Education and Research 2003-2008, which is based on the education and science policy aims recorded in the Government Programme and the Government's Strategy Document.
The purpose of the development plan for education and research (2003-2008) is to ensure the realisation of basic security in education.
The priorities are

The aims include to

• offer vocational/professional education for the whole youth age group (upper secondary and higher education)
• raise the level of education among the adult population and to update competencies
• speed up young people's transition from education to work through measures geared to improve student admissions, step up graduation rates and reduce overlapping
• prevent young people's exclusion by means of remedial teaching, special-needs education, student/pupil welfare services, the education and training guarantee and the development of immigrant education
• increase education provision based on prior learning and geared to adults' life situations.

The foremost development needs in higher education and research are to continue internationalising research and science administration, to enhance researcher training and to develop the educator system as a whole.

Financing of education

In Finland everyone has the right to free basic education, including necessary equipment and text books, school transportation, where needed, and adequate free meals.
Post-compulsory education is also free. This means that there are no tuition fees in general and vocational upper secondary education, in polytechnics or in universities. At these levels of education, students pay for their text books, travel and meals.
In general and vocational upper secondary education, school meals are free, and students can get subsidy for school travel. In continuing vocational education and in liberal adult education, it is possible to charge modest fees.
Those studying in post-compulsory education and training can apply for financial aid. There are special support schemes for mature students.

Financing for education through the Ministry of Education

The Ministry of Education allocates government grants for basic, upper secondary, vocational, polytechnic and university education, for research, and for continuing vocational and professional education and liberal adult education. The Ministry also finances morning and afternoon activities for schoolchildren and school transportation in pre-primary education.
Education is primarily co-financed by the government and local authorities. Universities, continuing vocational and professional education and liberal adult education are state-funded. Most state funding for education is included in the Ministry of Education main class in the state budget.

Financing of education

Financing for basic, general and vocational upper secondary education and for polytechnics is primarily allocated according to student numbers and calculated on the basis of unit costs per student. In liberal adult education, financing is correspondingly based on student numbers and a unit cost per student. The unit costs are calculated on the basis of realised costs.
In vocational education and training and polytechnic education, the unit costs depend on the cost of education in each field. In both forms of education, the unit costs will include both operating costs and investments from 2006 onwards: investment depreciation is included in the national cost-base used in unit cost calculation. Part of funding is performance-based.
All education and training is co-financed by the government and local authorities, except further vocational training and university education. The local authorities pay 54.7% of the cost of basic education, general upper secondary education, vocational education and training and polytechnic education. In addition to its 45.3% share of statutory funding, the government grants discretionary subsidies to education and its development and, in basic and general upper secondary education, funding for construction. As the funds are not earmarked, the education and training providers can use them at their discretion.
In addition to this public funding, vocational institutions and polytechnics in particular provide fee-paying services and carry out projects, which also bring them income.

University funding

Funds granted by the Ministry of Education to universities comprise core funding, project funding and performance-based funding.
The appropriations and the objectives, direction, evaluation and development of university operations are determined in performance agreements concluded by the universities and the Ministry of Education.
Universities also receive a great deal of external financing, e.g. for research projects, and have income from services they provide, such as continuing professional education.

Education and training providers have a statutory duty to evaluate their own activities and participate in external evaluations. Evaluation is used to collect data in support of education policy decisions and as a background for information- and performance-based steering. Education is evaluated locally, regionally and nationally. Finland also takes part in international reviews.
The evaluation of universities and polytechnics is the responsibility of the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council, which is an independent expert body assisting universities, polytechnics and the Ministry of Education in matters relating to evaluation. The Council is attached to the Ministry.
In general, vocational and adult education there is an Education Evaluation Council, which is an independent body evaluating education and learning, developing evaluation and promoting research into evaluation. It serves the Ministry of Education, education and training providers and educational institutions.
Evaluation findings are used in the development of the education system and the core curricula and in practical teaching. They and international comparative data also provide a tool for monitoring the realisation of equality and equity in education.

Evaluation and quality assurance systems in higher education

Universities and polytechnics evaluate their own education, research and artistic provision and undertake impact analyses. They are assisted by the Finnish Higher Education Evaluation Council (FINHEEC).
FINHEEC also makes recommendations to the Ministry of Education concerning centres of excellence in education based on proposals submitted by the universities and polytechnics. The evaluation of research is the responsibility of the Academy of Finland, which designates centres of excellence in research. Centres of excellence in artistic activities are nominated by the Arts Council of Finland.
Universities are currently developing their quality assurance systems in order to enhance quality and improve international comparability.

Educational foresights

Quantitative and content development in education entails estimates of future educational and labour needs. These education foresights form part of education policy steering and decision-making, which influence matters far into the future.
One important ongoing development is the change in the age structure of the population and work force. At present the annual exit from the labour force exceeds the entry.
Foresight looks far into the future because, owing to the duration of qualification and degree education. The graduates enter the labour market five to eight years after the decisions on education provision have been made. In addition, they will remain in the labour force for decades, so that basic and initial education, especially provision catering for young people, must be examined over a time span of 10 to 15 years.
The policy outlined in the development plan for education and research influences the quality, quantity and structure of education, notably target numbers, for the following four years and beyond.
The details of higher education provision is agreed in the three-year performance agreements. Polytechnics agree with the Ministry of Education on the intakes in each field of education, and universities on the target number of degrees and target intakes.
The authorisations to provide VET specify the maximum number of students, which the training providers divide among and within their field(s) of education.
In administrative terms, the Ministry is responsible for quantitative foresight and the National Board of Education and the higher education institutions for qualitative foresight.

International cooperation in education

Matters relating to the education system and its development are decided nationally.
National arrangements and decisions are informed and influenced by policies and objectives jointly formulated in the European Union, the Council of Europe, the OECD and the UN and in Nordic cooperation.

European cooperation

The European Union has put in place structures for cooperation relating to education in the Member States, while the decisions concerning educational content and the structure of the education systems are made by the Member States.
The role of the EU is to contribute to high-standard education by encouraging the Member States to cooperate and exchange information and by supporting and supplementing national action, where necessary. At present EU cooperation focuses on the European dimension in education, student and teacher mobility and cooperation between educational institutions.
In the EU, matters relating to education and training come under the Education, Youth and Culture Council. It makes decisions together with the European Parliament according to the Joint Decision Procedure.

Recognition of diplomas

Matters relating to the recognition of diplomas and certificates are handled by the Competition Council. At the national level, the Ministry of Education is responsible for preparing Community law on recognition of diplomas. The National Board of Education provides information and guidance relating to recognition and equivalence of degrees.

EU education programmes and activities relating to education

Activities relating to education are financed through different programmes, the latest example being the new Lifelong Learning Programme 2007-2013. The Lifelong Learning Programme comprises four sectoral programmes on school education (Comenius), higher education (Erasmus), vocational training (Leonardo da Vinci) and adult education (Grundtvig), and is completed by a transversal programme focusing on policy cooperation, languages, information and communication technology and dissemination and exploitation of results. Finally, a Jean Monnet programme focuses on European integration and support for certain key institutions and associations active in the field. The programme budget will be € 6,970 million for the total period 2007-2013.

The aim of the programme is to contribute through lifelong learning to the development of the Community as an advanced knowledge society, with sustainable economic development, more and better jobs and greater social cohesion. It aims to foster interaction, cooperation and mobility between education and training systems within the Community, so that they become a world quality reference. 

Copenhagen Process, Bologna Process  and other activities

In 2002 the EU launched the Copenhagen Process in order to enhance the quality and attraction of vocational education and to promote mobility among vocational students and graduates. The Copenhagen process is an integrated part of the Lisbon strategy in which vocational education and training (VET) must be developed to play its active and key role in furthering lifelong learning policies and supplying the highly skilled workforce necessary to make Europe one of the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economies and societies in the world.
In higher education the main EU forum is the Bologna Process, in which the aim is to improve the competitiveness and attraction of European higher education vis-à-vis other continents. The purpose of the Bologna process is to create the European higher education area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe.
The EU has also created various tools for removing obstacles to mobility, for instance by promoting the transportability of degrees and qualifications for study or work purposes.

Nordic cooperation

The Nordic countries cooperate in matters relating to research, education and culture.
The main areas of educational cooperation are

• education from pre-primary to upper secondary education and training
• higher education
• adult and liberal education
• languages
• information and communications technology.

The Nordic Council of Ministers is an intergovernmental body within which education ministers meet twice a year. The Council has supportive schemes which promote mobility.

International organisations

UNESCO is one of the most important international organisations for the Ministry of Education.
UNESCO has a number of conventions and recommendations which are binding to the member states. The work forms include research programmes, expert meetings and ministerial conferences. UNESCO provides expert assistance, organises international campaigns, compiles statistics and documents, and produces publications.
Current key issues in UNESCO are the Education-for-All process, the role of UNESCO's scientific programmes and national coordination, the safeguarding and promotion of cultural diversity, human rights, tolerance, and the promotion of peace.

OECD

Education and education policy are the cornerstones of OECD activities. Finland participates actively in educational reviews organised by the OECD, which is one of the leading organisations in global educational cooperation.